NEW DELHI: India is expected to receive the fourth unit of the S-400 Triumf surface-to-air missile system from Russia in the first part of next month, and is expected to further strengthen the air defense mechanism of the Indian Air Force, sources in the security establishment said on Tuesday.
In October 2018, India signed a $5 billion deal with Russia to purchase five units of missile systems, three of which have already been delivered.
The sources said that the fifth unit of the missile will be delivered by November under an updated timeline for the supply of the weapon system.
S-400 missile systems played a decisive role during Operation Sindor.
Last month, New Delhi agreed to purchase a new batch of five S-400 missile systems from Russia, which will bring the total number to 10.
It is learned that the fourth unit of the missile system has already been shipped and is expected to arrive in India within the next few days.
India signed the deal to buy the S-400 missiles seven years ago despite a US warning that going ahead with the contract could trigger US sanctions under provisions of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act.
Sources said India does not expect any potential hindrance from US sanctions as the new purchases will serve as a “follow-on” order to the previous order.
The missile systems were widely used by the Indian Air Force during the military conflict with Pakistan from May 7 to 10.
After weeks of conflict, a proposal was made to purchase another batch of S-400 missiles.
Russia has already trained a group of Indian personnel to operate the missile systems.
The S-400 is known as Russia’s most advanced long-range surface-to-air missile defense system.
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